School Safety
Dr. Pamela Riley, Ed. D.
Executive Director, National Association of Students Against Violence Everywhere
Tuesday, February 03, 2004; 11:00 a.m. ET
A 17-year-old at Ballou High School was fatally shot Monday inside the Southeast Washington school and an 18-year-old student was wounded. The incident occurred outside the school's cafeteria. D.C. Police Chief Charles Ramsey told reporters that police do not know how the gun was brought into the school and that the shootings appeared to be related to "an ongoing dispute" between "groups of young people."
Ballou's campus was closed for several weeks in the fall after mercury was taken from a science classroom and spread around the school. On the day the school reopened, a gunman fired shots on a neighboring street, alarming students and faculty.
What can be done about this?
Dr. Pamela Riley, executive director of the National Association of Students Against Violence Everywhere, said in an interview with washingtonpost.com, "We believe that security cameras and metal detectors are important elements in our school safety plan yet students and their participation can play a vital role in keeping our schools safer."
Riley was online Tuesday, Feb. 3 at 11 a.m. ET to discuss school safety and security.
The National Association of Students Against Violence Everywhere is a non-profit organization striving to decrease violence in schools and communities by involving students in school safety efforts.
A transcript follows.
Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control
over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.
Dr. Pamela Riley: The tragedy that was seen in D.C. schools yesterday gives us more emphasis on school safety planning. We need to continue to be vigilant and involve students in our school safety efforts.
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Alexandria, Va.:
Tragedies like this hit us so hard in part because they're so rare: our kids generally are safer at school than anywhere else, including home. Two questions:
1. What do see as the role of our school boards in ensuring that our schools are as safe as they can be?
2. Do you see any trade-off between the need for aggressive measures like installing metal detectors and the risk that such measures may send a message that school is unsafe and violence is expected -- a broken window theory type of concern?
Dr. Pamela Riley: There's a great deal that school boards can do.
Research has determined that the best approaches to school safety are those which have multiple coordinated strategies that address different dimensions of safety. Boards can ensure that schools have their physical environment as safe as possible, providing funds for metal detectors, surveillance cameras, law enforcement officers on campus. In addition, boards need to ensure that schools pay attention to the people aspect of safety in the schools -- the relationships between students and staff members and students and students need to play an important role in schools safety. Programs such as peer mediation can provide young people with an outlet for their anger and conflicts without resulting in a deadly incident. We need school resource officers because they act as a comprehensive resource for their school and can facilitate conflict management strategies. Boards must send the message to school administrators and staff that they are going to support and encourage safer schools by looking at the environment and also student relationships.
Every student should be able to attend a school that is safe and secure, free of fear and conducive to learning. The last part of that -- coducive to learning -- is important for our young people so that they do not feel that they are imprisoned in a school environment but yet measures are being taken to ensure a as safe an environment as possible. Schools are a reflection of our communities. Unfortunately, in many communities where there is violence in the neighborhoods, that violence can be played out in the schools. In order to decrease the potential for violence occurring, safety and security measures need to be implemented. Also keeping in mind, programs and activities that deal with student relationships.
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Capitol Hill, D.C.:
Dr. Riley,
I'm a District resident, but I have no children and I don't live in SE or anywhere near Ballou. Still, the trouble Ballou has seen this year touches me deeply and I'm ashamed as a District taxpayer that we can't get it together. Me, I'd be happy to pay $10 more in taxes a year just to make our schools safer, but I know that's not a possibility. What can I, a single, childless person across town, do to demonstrate my support for the Ward 8 and Ballou HS community?
Dr. Pamela Riley: That's an excellent question. School violence is not just a school problem, it is a community problem and you have recognized this. A key to reducing school violence is community awareness. There's much debate whether media plays a role in these school shootings. We as a society can look at TV-movie violence that provides thousands of images of crime and violence across the country. Although they alone do not cause violence to occur, they do contribute to defining how people experience reality. The entire community can join together to provide wholesome activities for young people in that community. Interested citizens should see this event not as "it can't happen here," but as how we can plan and prepare to prevent this kind of tragedy from occurring in our neighborhood.
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Washington, D.C.:
Dr. Riley,
I am trying hard to be sympathetic here. But I just come away thinking that this kid got what he deserved. He should have known the consequences by just growing up in that area. Yet, he continued to pursue the hoodlum lifestyle. Public education is "free". If people take it for granted, we should just cut them off. That would improve security by itself. People like the alleged shooter and the victim would not wreak havoc on the schools.
Dr. Pamela Riley: There is no one variable but many that influence the level and degree of violence we have in schools. Those who study juvenile violence have broken it down into 4 catagories:
-relationship violence
-situational violence
-predatory violence
-psychopathological violence
By far (over 90%)of the juvenile crime which occurs falls into the first 2 catagories. The shooting in DC yesterday seems to fall into the first and third catagories.
I share your frustration, but we need to find ways to help these kids if we can. Parts of the system seemed to fail as well as the problem with his own bad choices. An alternative placement might have helped.
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Silver Spring, Md.:
It seems that the Youth Gang Task Force was very involved in the specific dispute and had even recommended that the boy be transferred to another school.
Based on your experience, do transfers work to reduce the threat of violence? I know the facts of the case are just coming out, what do you think should've happened here?
Dr. Pamela Riley: In many communities across the country alternative placements are working to help individual kids and make the school environments safer. We know that incidents of targeted violence at school are rarely sudden or implusive acts. The Youth Gang Task Force was working on the situation, but it was not in time. However, these incidents sent messages to other students that you must be responsible for your actions. As soon as more facts are know, it was be easier to assess the actions taken or not taken.
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Annapolis, Md.:
I am concerned that people place too much responsibility on the schools and the government to protect our children. What "percentage" of responsibility to you attribute a situation like this to poor family situations? It sounds like this boy was going to be a target no mater what.
Dr. Pamela Riley: Every situation is different, and there is plenty of "blame" to go around to everyone. We all, including parents, have responsibilities for making usre that our young people are growing up healthy and well adjusted. Parents need to know their kids. Othe adults do as well. We need to take responsibility for our children: when we do not, then there may some "fault."
There are no guarantees that violence will not occur because life is full of risks. However, there are things that schools and can do also to decrease the potential for violence occurring. We all have a responsibilty.
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Silver Spring, Md.:
After reading a beautiful Post Style section feature on a Ballou student last Sunday, as well as Ron Suskind's book "Hope in the Unseen" (also about a Ballou student), it seems that the majority of Ballou kids are absolutely craving school safety and would welcome the added security measures. There's no illusion of safety for these kids right now.
Dr. Pamela Riley: The great majority of young people across this country today are rule-abiding, good citizens, going to school and doing what they are supposed to do. We must provide environments that are conducive to learning for them. There are many impacts that a shooting can have. One is that they make students fearful at their own schools. National surveys find about six percent of students staying home from school becuase they are afraid. Another is that they motivate students to get involved in making schools safer. Students Against Violence Everywhere (SAVE) is an example of this.
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Nederland, Colo.:
History shows, whatever security technology is employed, ways will be found to defeat it. Young people need to believe in another resort than violence. What educational programs (did) exist to teach them about non-violent conflict resolution? What are they taught about violence perpetrated by authority? If they're taught that the violence of "the enemy" is bad but that of "the hero" is good, won't they always choose "heroic" violence?
Dr. Pamela Riley: Schools across the country are employing strategies, such as peer mediation, conflict management, anger management and SAVE to teach youth about the consequences of violence. You are right that even with metal detectors, the gun entered the school, so we need to also concentrate our school safety efforts on people and relationships as well as on physical security.
The choice between bad and good can be a difficult one for many of the youth today. We need to ensure that youth are receiving a level of comfort and trust within the school environment so that they choose healthy behaviors and appropriate behaviors over the bad. We have seen incidents where youth have prevented a tragedy because they were willing to tell a trusted adult. In a recent survey sponsored by Chevrolet, 8 out of 10 youth reported that they would tell someone if they knew about a violence act or the potential for a violent act. That is encouraging.
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Washington, D.C.:
Doesn't this just filter down to the simple question that the country needs tougher gun laws?
Dr. Pamela Riley: I do not think that we can legislate all the bad from the world. We must build young people who can make wise decisions and who can solve problems no matter what the "bad" might be with which they are dealing.
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Oxon Hill, Md.:
I'm a former student of Ballou Senior High School and it's very disturbing to hear what's going on at my old school. Perhaps this situation could have been avoided if the so called "Gang Violence Unit" would have worked on their tips and put an end to the "hear say" of gang activity. Dispite Mr. Richardson's involvement this still does not give someone the right to take away another person's life. Maybe if the nation's capital would put the death penalty into its judicial system then the criminals out here would not see the system for a joke and become repeat offenders.
Dr. Pamela Riley: Kids join gangs as a replacement for family. There is always someone watching their backs. Kids join to belong. The most common reason for joining a gang is protection. I have not seen the word gang used in connection with this incident, only "groups", however, the circumstances are not unlike a gang-related incident. You are correct in saying that schools should give weapon activites a priority response. Schools should also obtain input from youth on violence-related concerns and prevention strategies.
The courts are reviewing the death penalty and its application to juveniles as we "speak."
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Washington, D.C.:
It seems as though we react very differently as a community to a shooting in SE D.C. and one in suburban America, like Columbine. Your thoughts on the differences in urban/suburban school violence and challenges administrators face in each situation to provide security?
Dr. Pamela Riley: The biggest myth is that "It can't happen her." The likelihood that a violent incident occurring in a school is less than one in a million, but playing the odds is no way to make schools safer. There are specific strategies that schools have employed for safety across the board, but schools must also assess their specific needs and plan and prepare accordingly.
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Dr. Pamela Riley: Thank you very much for your excellent questions, comments and points for discussion. Over the past 2 schools years there were 8 fatal school shooting deaths. This school year (and we are only in February) there have already been 13 fatal school shooting. We must continue to be aware of school violence issues and work to find solutions. Youth must be held accountable for their actions, but we as adults must do what we can to provide safe and secure learning environments for all. National SAVE is working to involve students in being a meaningful part of this process. Thank you.
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